Bronwen and I collect emoticons. Most people collect stamps, cards, pocket lint,
whatever. We collect emoticons. Emoticon is cybergeekspeak for emotion icon. They're
supposed to convey an emotion that wouldn't otherwise be obvious to the recipient of
your email so you don't get slapped. We just like 'em cuz they're so durned cute.
Our really huge collection is sorted into sections so you don't go crazy. Email us more
if ya got ones we don't have.

Internet Emoticons and Smileys - A Picture is Worth 1000 Words.

We’ve all seen them. They are everywhere -- in chat rooms, instant messaging, in our emails, on blogs and websites or in forums. So what are they?

They are known as smileys or emoticons (short for “emotive icons”) -- another way to electronically communicate with others, quickly. In our day-to-day lives, we often rely on hand gestures, facial expressions and body language to get an accurate read on the emotion a person is trying to convey. Sometimes, our intent gets lost in the translation somewhere along the line. A smile, a frown, clenched fists; all add significance to words we choose to verbalize. However, when communicating electronically, it is often difficult to discern whether the person we are speaking with is angry, sad and happy or just being silly. That is where emoticons come in handy; they help convey that particular emotion and attitude quickly and without much effort.

Smileys are easily created by using simple keyboard combinations using various symbols, punctuation and characters such as colon’s, hyphens, brackets, to make faces. By physically turning your head sideways, it’s easy to see the emoticon. Try it yourself; by turning your head to the left, it is easy to distinguish the eyes, nose and smile.

:-)

Although the word “smiley” is often used in this type of electronic shorthand, emoticons are not always smiling nor do they always portray happy feelings:

:~(

Emoticons have been around for quite sometime. Although there is some debate as to when the smiley first appeared, it is believed that Kevin Mackenzie first used the -) symbol, which meant "tongue in cheek" in 1979. Smileys did not become popular until September 1982, when Scott E. Fahlman used one on an electronic bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University. Fahlman is commonly known as the creator of the smiley. Below, is his original post:

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)

From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman @ Cmu-20c>

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark

things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

The Rise of the Emojis

Jumpstarting from smileys and emoticons, emojis became a more visually appealing by-product of the Internet age. This allows visitors to show their feelings through text message without actually having to exclaim "this makes me pleased" or "this makes me upset" with a lot of characters to type in. Alternatively, at this point you may simply state, "Today, I went along to the mall" and put an emoji to evoke how you felt. And whoever you may be currently texting, they will understand instantly that you are happy today that you visited the mall. Lets face it, what kind of dialogue would resemble without emojis that conveniently expresses how you feel. They've become such an essential component in texting/messaging interactions. It's quite difficult to imagine the Digital Age without them.

Japan was the birthplace of emojis and it originated from Shigetaka Kurita, who designed them for cellphone use.

Kurita worked on the first mobile web system named "i-mode." He was a part of this task group that targeted Japanese online sites and cellphones market in 1999. Cellphones before had really small monochrome LCD screens that could you are limited to fit 48 words. With this specific minimal screen-space, it was not a walk in the park to send information that is enough with no emojis to shorten some messages. In a appointment, Kurita defined a text that says the current weather prediction was shown as 'fine'. After he found it, he realized it was difficult to show. Western TV weather forecasts have often incorporated representations or photographs to describe the weather - for instance, an image of sun that meant it was 'sunny'. Being thus acquainted with this tradition, Kurita thought "I would rather view a photograph of sunlight, instead of a wording stating 'good weather'. " He started to think that having a picture to show words would be heaven-sent, and he advised that "i-mode" to include emojis. His offer was acknowledged, and in only one month he needed to come up with a batch of 180 emojis.

Without the emoji, it's difficult to communicate thoughts using only text. When Western tradition is now transforming the use of images being a type of expression can be comprehended without lengthy phrases. In Asia, the emojis were instantly an enormous success because despite several language barriers, these images are globally recognized. About 10 years later, the emojis spread easily overseas, and so are available nowadays for use in text on nearly every smartphone as a unique distinct keyboard to use often by themselves or being an improvement to enhance communications.

To be able to come up with these emojis, Kurita viewed how individuals depicted themselves and went into the area. He considered what might be better understood when there have been photographs to aid reveal what is being conveyed. Moreover, he understood that the majority of thoughts are widespread and individuals in most unique upbringing and culture can answer these pictures in ways that were comparable. As an example, when a girl sends a guy a text with a heart-shaped emoji, this would generally provide the impression that there's some romance occurring, which will be the same irrespective of where you came from.

All-in-One Communication Solution

Emojis have become so well-known nowadays that it spread like a virus from text messages and now new media started adapting them including Twitter, Viber, Facebook, WeChat, Instagram and more.

You may not realize it that emojis have become so integrated into conversations that more people are currently making use of them to generate lively stories or even to fill nearly all of their communications. People develop, or talk where they're planning about how they're feeling words and sayings using emojis that express more than words can say. Our eyes could really come alive without the use of long paragraphs.

Around the globe, the recognition of emojis are expanding. Emojis aren't just currently modifying the way we express ourselves through text, but also transforming the way we talk. Even big corporations and organizations are having ways to adapt using novelty emojis in order to keep up to date in this new and convenient way of chatting.

Why do individuals enjoy these emoji’s so much? Although you can have a million words to say, there will always be memory lapses that you cannot find the exact words you want to convey. You will find facial cues or gestures are more effective to get across our point. And now that people reside in a Digital world, we continue to look for better and simpler methods to successfully connect our views and thoughts over any text message to ensure that necessary societal hints, for example, sarcasm or frustration or fun, do not get overlooked.

This is what an emoji permits us to achieve. They satisfy our human thoughts without overthinking the right words, presenting people the capability to clearly speak and show the meaning, experience, and tone of what we are trying to explain. As to basically supplying individuals improved cultural well-being, in fact, emojis go beyond emotional manifestations that genuine face-to-face interpersonal interaction can offer. As a lot of people are now getting the hang of emoji use, there comes a greater need to improve the line-up of emoticons to evoke almost all thoughts, feelings and words possible. What world would you like to live in when virtually everything you want to express can now be shared without any fear of being tongue-tied or being lost in translation? Emoji's can help you voice out anything without uttering a single word.

COMMONLY USED EMOTICONS

These are the emoticons that are the most widely used. If you use them in your
e-mails the person you send it to will probably understand you. The first three
(smiley, sad, winky) are the most common of all emoticons.

:-) Your standard smiley face. User is happy, or just made a mildly sarcastic comment
:-( Sad face
;-) Winky face - expressing a flirtatious or sarcastic remark.
:-> User just made an especially mean or sarcastic comment - more powerful
than :-) or ;-)
>:-) Grinning devil - either the user is a Marilyn Manson fan or they just made
an extremely devilish comment. More powerful than :->.
>;-> Winking devil - Eep! User just made a very, very mean or evil comment.
Strongest of them all.
O:-) User is angelic/just made a sweet and innocent remark
:-O Yelling or shocked. Can be typed in bold for extra impact.
:-I Indifferent

NOT QUITE AS COMMONLY USED EMOTICONS

These emoticons are still widely used, just not as much as the ones in the section
above. If you use these emoticons in an e-mail to a person who's kinda new to the
internet, they may or may not know what you're talking about.

Um, OK...

These emoticons don't convey an emotion. In fact, they serve no purpose except to look cute.
And unless the person you send them to is a cybergeek like you (and me)they won't know what you're gibbering
about. But they're very cute and collectible.